Which Types of Posts Go Viral? 10 Examples of the Year.

Using the magic of Google Analytics, a website owner like myself can, at any time, peep at a live map of who is on which pages of her blog.

For example, right now I can see that there is a visitor to my site from Australia, and two people are reading my new baby photos article.

Seeing these stats swirl and shift is more exciting for blogging geeks like me than watching a live puppy cam!

Even more thrilling, however, is watching a post “go viral” in real-time. When an article really takes off, the entire map of Google Analytics Real Time lights up. Orange circles representing current site visitors pour over the globe, making the site owner’s pulse quicken with the delight of being READ!

But… what exactly MAKES a post go viral?

As a twist on a New Year’s “most popular articles” post, I’m going to run down my 10 most viral posts as of the start of 2014, explaining what made each take off. Perhaps this information will help you in your own publishing endeavors! Or maybe it will just be a fascinating journey into what makes humans tick, and what makes them click.

From #10: Great Mayan Ruins.

#10: Surprising tourist attractions.
My tenth most viral post, with 9,230 views by the start of 2014, was “Great Mayan Ruins of Belize.” Ancient ruins in a lush tropical jungle? Facts about a deadly sports game? A lesson on how to not get lost while walking hours on a Central American highway? So alluring to click!

#9: Shocking realities.Humans crave seeing things they’ve been previously insulated from, like the piles of rainbow trash in “Startling Photos of Paharganj, India“ which has now been viewed 10,486 times.

#8: An “About” page.
My “About Lillie” page isn’t exactly viral, since it’s had steady clicks for years to reach 12,986 views, and “viral” connotes a post that gets thousands of views in a short time period. But on any website, the background information page is usually the second place any new visitor clicks, so all sites should be sure to have one.

From #6: Chocolate tour pics!

#7: Getting people angry.
The article, “How to Travel With a Timeshare, But Avoid Buying“ has accumulated 14,790 views because it’s apparently enraged the timeshare sales industry so much that they’ve been sharing it out of fury. Every week I get a new screaming comment on it from a salesperson saying I’m a cheap punk… and every week I throw the comment in the trash. Hey– it’s my site, so I don’t have to publish rudeness! But rest assured I will never travel via timeshare pitch again.

#1: Beaches or humor… ideally, both!
The absolute most viral article on this site, with 54,756 views as of now, is “Our Witty, Pretty Resort in Placencia.” It is the perfect combination of escapist vacation photography (don’t you want to dive through the screen onto that beach chair?) and the funniest hotel pamphlet ever.

Voila! Those ten characteristics made these articles go viral this year. Of course, having those elements doesn’t work every time, but they do tend to make humans click!

The author, Lillie Marshall, is a National Board Certified Teacher of English who has written over 700 articles on Around the World "L" Travel Blog since 2009, becoming a respected source of advice on educational travel.. and creating joy in everyday life! Lillie launched Teaching Traveling in 2010, which is now one of the internet's most extensive communities of global education expertise. Lillie is mother to two young children, and has been a Boston educator since 2003.

Those are all fantastic articles, Lillie! I have to say, though, that I’m partial to the â€œPhotos of a Chocolate Tour to Make You Droolâ€œ post. In fact, about 1/3 of the 15,170 views may be from me 🙂

I have a friend who is a “mom blogger” and she thrives on the “controversial issues” types of posts that go viral…but I don’t think I could tolerate that much online hate pointed at me! So I guess I’ll have to stick with pretty pictures of pretty places. 😉

Great take on your year-end review! I had just one viral post this year…about six things I don’t like about living in Spain! Seems that my readers like it when I talk about negative stuff, which is hard when I’m a mostly positive person! Wishing you and your brood the best for 2014!

Hey Lillie, great tips. I’m going to try a few. I added a food category recently and one of the recipes has been viral and continues to drive traffic. If only I’d known sooner. 🙂 I have tons of good beach photos so going to try that next. 🙂

I had never heard of Google Analytics until now. Also, the information about what makes a blog post go viral is quite interesting. As someone who has a blog, I would like to get more traffic (although I have so many other more important things to worry about), so that advice was helpful.

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Lovely to meet you! I’m Lillie Marshall, a 6-foot tall Teacher, Traveler, and Boston mama who’s created over 700 articles on Around the World “L” Travel and Life Blog since 2009. Do explore, share, and enjoy! [Learn More…]